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Simulation
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Healthcare

In the search for better methods to understand healthcare systems and develop solid, credible, evidence-based answers to complex questions, mathematical modeling has stepped up to the challenge.

Simulation gives healthcare professionals the freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them without the need for intervention by experts to stop patient harm. By seeing the outcome of their mistakes, learners gain powerful insight into the consequences of their actions and the need to “get it right”

clinic-redesign

Clinic Redesign

Using ExtendSim, a consultant was able to save their client approximately $415,000 annually by streamlining their processes and staffing requirements as well as proposing a redesign of their...

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healthcare-in-prisons

Healthcare in Prisons

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) houses over 170,000 inmates in 33 adult prisons so it can be challenging to provide timely access to healthcare services while ensuring the...

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nanotechnology

Nano­technology

A research team at the University of Southern California developed a system that models nanoscale drug delivery through the bloodstream. It simulated the flow of nanorobots through the bloodstream until they...

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pandemic-response-planning

Pandemic Response Planning

How could we expedite vaccination distribution to protect society if there’s a pandemic? In a February 2017 report published in the Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal,...

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ExtendSim in Healthcare

  • Design and planning of emergency departments.
  • Test new procedures and dosage requirements for dangerous drugs and help manage chronic diseases.
  • Healthcare informatics and diagnostics.
  • Drug delivery.
  • Evaluate current and proposed processes to improve patient flow, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction.
  • Innovate new ways and means of comprehensive healthcare.
  • Pharma solutions.
  • Optimize flow patterns and capacity utilization when building new or extended facilities.
  • Recommend changes to corporate standards regarding staff levels and panel sizes.
  • Resource prioritization and allocation in the short and long term when faced with projected increases in clients and the need to expand without over-expanding.
  • Telephone answering for a large medical practice.
  • Dementia strategy.
  • Simulation of the function and operation of neural networks.
  • Acute and psychiatric hospital bed provision.
  • Clinical trial designs.

ExtendSim in Healthcare

  • Design and planning of emergency departments.
  • Test new procedures and dosage requirements for dangerous drugs and help manage chronic diseases.
  • Healthcare informatics and diagnostics.
  • Drug delivery.
  • Evaluate current and proposed processes to improve patient flow, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction.
  • Innovate new ways and means of comprehensive healthcare.
  • Pharma solutions.
  • Optimize flow patterns and capacity utilization when building new or extended facilities.
  • Recommend changes to corporate standards regarding staff levels and panel sizes.
  • Resource prioritization and allocation in the short and long term when faced with projected increases in clients and the need to expand without over-expanding.
  • Telephone answering for a large medical practice.
  • Dementia strategy.
  • Simulation of the function and operation of neural networks.
  • Acute and psychiatric hospital bed provision.
  • Clinical trial designs.

Who is using ExtendSim in Healthcare

  • ExtendSim was used for a landmark healthcare study in which two major healthcare organizations used RFID to track nurses at 38 hospitals across the country. The goal of the study was to analyze and find ways to improve nurses' time with patients at the bedside on medical and surgical floors. The principal investigator planned to demonstrate, through simulation modeling of existing data if the nursing care process and/or the physical space could be improved.
  • Major medical equipment producer of laboratory automation equipment built ExtendSim models that allow its sales force to customize equipment for customers, increasing the rate of sales success. Then, the customer can use these same models to replicate their operations and explore opportunities to improve testing processes in lab analysis.
  • Students from the Tippie Analytics Cooperative worked with massive amounts of patient encounter data to reveal bottlenecks and opportunities as patients arrive and flow through the multiple engagements that constitute an appointment at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. These insights will help UIHC improve the patient experience by driving operational efficiencies, optimizing staffing, and streamlining patient visits.
  • Demand and capacity planning for an Intensive Care Unit examined patient flow pathways in a care unit (Definite MI, Suspected MI, LVF, and Arrhythmia) to investigate the impact of bed blockages in the medical ward on the ability of the unit to deliver its specialized care.
  • Modeling perioperative systems in a hospital - Utilizing data from a study containing a large dataset (90,000+ records of 30,000+ patients) culled from hospital patient logs and electronic data collection systems, ExtendSim was used to evaluate alternate process flows, policies, staffing, and resource allocation, for the cases flowing through a renovated space. This level of fidelity increased team buy-in and increased certainty that savings estimates would be real, providing an accurate understanding of resource allocation as it relates to revenue. The effort’s positive outcome showed the importance of involving nursing staff and facility administration with the healthcare planning, architecture, and simulation modeling team. The result is improved patient care and patient flow with better use of personnel and other resources.
  • ExtendSim was used to support the operational and functional design of a new national distribution center for the leading pharmaceuticals distributor in Argentina (more that 150 million units per year, at a value of $1 billion). This operation stands out for its level of innovation and aggressive use of simulation technology in support of order picking operations and routing of orders.
  • Feasibility model of North Hampshire Hospital's Emergency Assessment Centre in the United Kingdom evaluated staffing requirements, beds, number of cubicles, overall size of the facilities, and future growth. Surveyors and engineers used model results to plan the facility.
  • A high level model of mental health services, including 10 hospitals, is being developed.
  • Analysis of staffing levels at a refugee camp in Croatia.
  • Models of hospital and emergency medical services throughout a major USA county.
  • Selection of categorical surgical residents at a major teaching hospital.
  • Selection of categorical surgical residents at a major teaching hospital.
  • Evaluation of biomedical research award applications in a major university in the health sciences.
  • Modeling of hearing instrument production.

Who is using ExtendSim in Healthcare

  • ExtendSim was used for a landmark healthcare study in which two major healthcare organizations used RFID to track nurses at 38 hospitals across the country. The goal of the study was to analyze and find ways to improve nurses' time with patients at the bedside on medical and surgical floors. The principal investigator planned to demonstrate, through simulation modeling of existing data if the nursing care process and/or the physical space could be improved.
  • Major medical equipment producer of laboratory automation equipment built ExtendSim models that allow its sales force to customize equipment for customers, increasing the rate of sales success. Then, the customer can use these same models to replicate their operations and explore opportunities to improve testing processes in lab analysis.
  • Students from the Tippie Analytics Cooperative worked with massive amounts of patient encounter data to reveal bottlenecks and opportunities as patients arrive and flow through the multiple engagements that constitute an appointment at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. These insights will help UIHC improve the patient experience by driving operational efficiencies, optimizing staffing, and streamlining patient visits.
  • Demand and capacity planning for an Intensive Care Unit examined patient flow pathways in a care unit (Definite MI, Suspected MI, LVF, and Arrhythmia) to investigate the impact of bed blockages in the medical ward on the ability of the unit to deliver its specialized care.
  • Modeling perioperative systems in a hospital - Utilizing data from a study containing a large dataset (90,000+ records of 30,000+ patients) culled from hospital patient logs and electronic data collection systems, ExtendSim was used to evaluate alternate process flows, policies, staffing, and resource allocation, for the cases flowing through a renovated space. This level of fidelity increased team buy-in and increased certainty that savings estimates would be real, providing an accurate understanding of resource allocation as it relates to revenue. The effort’s positive outcome showed the importance of involving nursing staff and facility administration with the healthcare planning, architecture, and simulation modeling team. The result is improved patient care and patient flow with better use of personnel and other resources.
  • ExtendSim was used to support the operational and functional design of a new national distribution center for the leading pharmaceuticals distributor in Argentina (more that 150 million units per year, at a value of $1 billion). This operation stands out for its level of innovation and aggressive use of simulation technology in support of order picking operations and routing of orders.
  • Feasibility model of North Hampshire Hospital's Emergency Assessment Centre in the United Kingdom evaluated staffing requirements, beds, number of cubicles, overall size of the facilities, and future growth. Surveyors and engineers used model results to plan the facility.
  • A high level model of mental health services, including 10 hospitals, is being developed.
  • Analysis of staffing levels at a refugee camp in Croatia.
  • Models of hospital and emergency medical services throughout a major USA county.
  • Selection of categorical surgical residents at a major teaching hospital.
  • Selection of categorical surgical residents at a major teaching hospital.
  • Evaluation of biomedical research award applications in a major university in the health sciences.
  • Modeling of hearing instrument production.

Trusted by Leading Healthcare Teams

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Case Studies

This thesis explored how to reduce surgery cancellations and improve operating room (OR) efficiency in hospitals.

This paper investigates the effectiveness of formalized collaboration strategies through which patients can be transferred and resources, including staff, equipment and supplies, can be shared...

Discrete event simulation is one of the key technologies to assist in the development of a flexible and agile production system in this Industry 4.0 era. An ExtendSim model was built for an...

This study builds on earlier research which focuses on the use of combined simulation methods to support healthcare demand predictions. The authors developed a hybrid simulation model composed of...

This presentation outlines the story of a Medical Device Fortune 500 company’s experience in implementing a combined simulation and optimization solution not integrated to the primary ERP system of...

Given the complexity of the emerging National Healthcare Information Network (NHIN) and Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) due to multiple levels of system interactions, creating a valid and...

The US Army uses Combat Support Hospitals (CSHs)—mobile, deployable hospitals housed in tents and expandable containers—to provide surgical and trauma care close to combat action. CSHs provide the...

On a cool Saturday morning Dr. Keith Weems walked briskly down the hallway toward the main entrance to Eastern Hospital (JHH). He was on his way to visit in-patients in several wards as part of his...

An existing hospital system was struggling with its volume of patients. The predicted increase in volume would push the existing system past its breaking point. A team was tasked with not only...

This report presents an integrated simulation-based approach to study the on-site production of concrete frameworks by considering the multiple effects of weather on work task productivity and...

Architecture and operations are inherently linked. What happens inside a building is influenced by space, and space is influenced by what goes on inside of it. This is especially important in health...

Nurses have increasingly been regarded as critical members of the planning team as architects recognize their knowledge and value. But the nurses’ role as knowledge experts can be expanded to...

This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of an Internal Medicine outpatient clinic practice setting by applying a discrete event simulation (DES) model. Growing demands on outpatient clinics...

Explores the potential of discrete event simulation (DES) methods to advance system-level investigation of emergency department (ED) operations. To this end, the authors describe the...

The Leeds & Wakefield Breast Screening Service & Primary Care Trusts (part of National Health Service in the UK) saved buying at least 2 new breast cancer screening machines.

Healthcare architecture design of a new ambulatory surgery unit explores the relationship between the number of operating rooms and recovery beds, the number of cases and the phases of recovery, bed...

Simulation modeling is a tool of hospital-wide system process change with a focus on improving patient satisfaction through a better clinical process. Some of the improvements, based on existing...

A large hospital in southeast United States utilized simulation to aid project leaders in advancing to the next level of sophistication with Six Sigma. The ExtendSim model brought clarity to...

Consultants used ExtendSim to find new ways of designing processes that achieve better patient flow, deliver greater care, are supported by staff, and provide better value-for-money for the delivery...

Emergency management planners and health care facilities are faced with potential scenarios that may severely test their capabilities and conventional processes. This paper presents the development...

What began as an MBA class project at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management is now applying factory management techniques to a medical clinic, ultimately improving productivity and...

Videos

This hour-long video is part of a webinar series hosted by Healthcare Systems Modeling & Simulation Affinity Group of Society of Simulation in Healthcare that was streamed live on June...

Susan O'Hara of O'Hara HealthCare Consultants and Robin Clark of the QMT Group present a case study of a surgical department demonstrating the importance of making accurate predictions in the...

Books

With a hands-on approach, the book clearly demonstrates the “how-tos” of effectively managing a healthcare organization. It describes how to negotiate the different perspectives of clinicians and...

This book focuses on providing health care leaders with the tools they can employ to optimize the performance of emergency departments (EDs) and thereby improve service to patients, employees, and...